


Next Episode

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 16:49:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1517927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katherine and Davey get Jack into Doctor Who</p>
            </blockquote>





	Next Episode

Jack dropped his lunch tray next to Davey’s and slid onto the bench to sit next to him.

"So what’s this medical show you’ve been getting my girlfriend into?"

Davey stared at him for a moment, puzzled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, shaking his head.

"While I was in Kansas City!" Jack insisted. "She said you guys were watching some doctor show."

"Oh, Doctor Who!" Davey laughed. "Jack, that’s not a medical show. It’s science fiction."

Jack snorted. “Okay, you’re a nerd.”

"You knew that already," Davey pointed out, swatting Jack’s hand away from his bag of pretzels. 

He heard someone coming up behind him, and suddenly there were arms around his shoulders and Jack didn’t have to look to know whose chin was resting on top of his head.

Davey raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be in advisory?” He asked.

"When in the history of this school has Sykes ever taken attendance?" Katherine retorted. She gave Jack’s shoulders a squeeze. "Don’t look at me like that, I’ve hardly gotten to see Jack at all since he got back. Now scoot over."

She squeezed in next to them, and Jack wrapped an arm around her waist.

"So you’re into science fiction now? I thought period dramas were your thing."

"Oh, are you guys talking about Doctor Who?" Katherine replied, without missing a beat. "Because Davey assured me that the Marquise de Pompadour and William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie are all going to be making appearances.

Davey nodded enthusiastically. “There are a lot of really amazing historical episodes. But the futuristic ones are great as well, I can’t wait for you to see all of them.”

"Jack, you should watch it with us!" Katherine exclaimed. "I’m only a few episodes in, we could restart from the beginning!"

"And I’m free after school today since my study group got rescheduled," Davey added. "So what do you say, Jack? You in?"

Jack groaned. “Do I even have a choice?”

~~~

Jack hadn’t been to Katherine’s house very often. He always felt a little out-of-place there, like he’d shown up to a party without realizing there was a dress code or something. He could tell that Davey felt the same way - the way he was glancing around the kitchen, you’d think he’d never seen one before.

"Hey, Dad?" Katherine called from the bottom of the staircase. "The boys are over!"

She waited for a moment, but there was no response.

"DAD! I’ve got company!"

Nothing.

"Just you wait, he’ll come down those stairs a half hour from now and be furious with me for not telling him I brought friends over,” she grumbled.

Jack took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. He never quite knew what to say during situations like these.

Katherine sighed, and tugged on Jack’s hand. “Well, c’mon guys. We’ve got our show to watch.”

~~~

Jack and Katherine curled against each other in the loveseat, and they made themselves comfortable while Davey fiddled with the television.

"Got it!" he announced finally, and then turned to look back at his friends. "Oh … wouldn’t you two rather take the couch? I can take the loveseat, if you’d rather …" he offered awkwardly. 

"Nah, we’re good," Jack said, pulling Katherine closer.

"We’re cozy!" She added brightly.

Davey settled down on the couch in typical Davey fashion, sitting up straight with his hands in his lap rather than taking advantage of all the space to sprawl out.

Some things were just lost on that boy, Jack thought affectionately.

"Ready to start?" Katherine asked.

"Ready." Jack replied, and Davey pressed the play button on the remote control.

As the theme music started up, Jack realized that he’d heard it before. “So this is where your ring tone came from?” He smirked.

"Yes, and yours is a Billy Joel song, so you definitely don’t get to laugh at me.”

"Hey, what’s wrong with—"

“Boys,” Katherine warned.

Jack turned his attention back to the screen. “So who’s this blond lady?” He asked. “Is she Doctor Who?”

"You’ll see.”

"Oh my god, she talks funny."

"Well, they’re British." Davey said patiently.

"Yeah, but their accents are so fucking weird!"

The withering stare he received from Katherine could have melted glass. “Jack, you handed in an essay last semester that contained the word ‘ain’t’ and you think you’re in a good position to be making fun of the way people talk?”

"You did what?!” Davey practically yelped.

”Aw, calm down. It was just one paper.”

"What happened to letting me proofread your stuff before you hand it in?!"

"Well isn’t it about time we quit doing that anyway? It’s not like you’re gonna be around to do that while I’m in college or anything," Jack muttered.

"We’ll talk about this later." Davey said firmly.

"…fine." 

~~~

"Aw, shit! Is the boyfriend dead?" Jack asked after watching Mickey Smith lose the battle against the recycling container. "Because I don’t think I want him to die, even if he is kind of a douche."

"I agree, he is a douche." Katherine announced.

Davey shrugged halfheartedly. “He has redemptive qualities?” He offered. 

"Oh, please. You just think he’s cute." Katherine teased. Jack snickered when Davey’s ears turned bright red.

"Well the two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, you know," Davey said defensively, staring down at his shoes. "And he really does get better later on. Trust me."

Katherine just laughed. “Whatever you say.”

~~~

Parts of the show were hard for Jack to follow, and some of it was just ridiculous - plastic monsters, a giant talking blob alien, an electric killing system wired to a Ferris wheel - who came up with that kind of stuff? But he did find himself really caring about what happened to this Rose character, especially at the end, when Doctor Who offered to take her with him in his time machine. He was pretty disappointed when she said no, but a little relieved as well. He started thinking about Kansas City, and of what his friends would say if they knew the real reason he’d gone. Because art school was exciting and all, and with that scholarship he might actually be able to afford it, but … Kansas City? He’d be thousands of miles away from everyone he cared about, and he just wasn’t sure he could do that.

Rose, of course, ended up running back to the Doctor. No good story ever came out of making the safe decision. Jack swallowed past the tightness in his throat and turned to press a kiss to Katherine’s cheek.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"Just missed you, that’s all," he murmured. "Now can we watch the next episode? I wanna know what happens next."


End file.
